CHAPTER 48

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This story takes place just before Jenny Tyler, Time's Angel Chapter 74.

THE WEDDING OF OSWIN OSWALD

Dave Oswald just stood there staring at Oswin, Clara, and Claranamon with a shocked look on his face once Oswin and Clara finished telling him the whole story of who she was and how she existed. He looked even more shocked when Clara told him about the Doctor, how travels with him, her Vortex powers, spending nine hundred years on Trenzalore, her echoes, and last but never least how she was currently sharing her body with the Doctor's wife. By the time Abby finished telling him how she used to be the companion of the same Doctor who Clara was currently traveling with albeit in a different body, Dave felt like his head was about to explode.

In the very next second, his temper exploded instead of his head.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I have three women here who all look like my Clara, I'd say that you were trying to play some kind of horrible joke on me. As it is, I'm still not sure that I believe half of what you've just been telling me. What I do know for sure is that all of you have been lying to me and keeping things from me, and that makes me furious. Why would you do that to me? Did you think that I was too stupid to comprehend all of this 'timey wimey' stuff as this Doctor of yours calls it? Did you not trust me? Was that it?" Dave said in an extremely angry voice.

"No, no, no. It wasn't that at all. It wasn't any of that. I was . . . afraid," Oswin admitted as she started to burst into tears.

Epsilon looked at her in shock because he had never seen Oswin afraid of anything before not even dying. Yet now even he could tell that she was terrified of how her father was reacting. He was now suddenly feeling an emotion that he wasn't very well acquainted with: sorrow. He wished that he hadn't done this to Oswin now. He had only been trying to help, and now he had made her more upset that he had ever seen her.

"IT IS MY FAULT. I TOLD THEM NOT TO SAY ANYTHING. YES, I . . . THREATENED TO EXTERMINATE THEM IF THEY TOLD ANYONE ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR LIVES. YOU MAY BE ANGRY AT OR EVEN EXTERMINATE ME FOR THIS IF YOU WISH, BUT DON'T BE ANGRY AT OSWIN. SHE LOVES YOU," Epsilon suddenly said as he interjected himself between Dave and Oswin.

Abby looked at the Dalek in absolute disbelief as she had never seen any Dalek show this kind of loyalty and affection before to anyone. She could truly see now just how much that her granddaughter had changed the Daleks for the better.

Even Dave could see what Epsilon was trying to do, and it made him calm down immediately as he said to Oswin, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just a bit overwhelmed by all of this. You have to admit that it's just a bit hard to take all at once. Are you alright?"

"Then you still want me?" Oswin asked surprising everyone especially Dave.

"Why wouldn't I want you? You're my Clara," Dave said in confusion as he put his arm around her and began to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Oswin pointed to Clara as she said, "No, she's your Clara. I'm . . . someone else. I'm basically just a stranger to you. I'm a stranger from another time that doesn't even exist anymore."

"No, Clara. You're not a stranger. You could never be a stranger to me. I still don't quite understand how you're here, but I'm glad that you are. You're just as much my Clara as she is. I love you, Clara. I'll always love you," Dave said as every trace of his anger towards her was now completely forgotten.

"I love you too, Dad," Oswin said as she immediately embraced him.

Clara smiled as she watched the two of them. She was so glad that this had all come out into the open now. She had never even known that Oswin felt that way, but it made perfect sense to her in hindsight.

Oswin smiled at her father and laughed slightly as she said, "I guess I was just being silly. It's just that I've had a bit of an inferiority complex ever since I remembered who I really am."

"I never wanted you to feel inferior to me. I'm sorry," Clara said.

"No, don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't your fault," Oswin said.

Even now Dave couldn't help but stare at both of them in disbelief as they talked to one another. Abby grinned as she watched his reaction as she knew exactly how he felt. She still hadn't gotten used to it herself.

Dave now turned to look at Claranamon who looked uncomfortable under his gaze as he said, "So you're my Clara too?"

"Yes and no. I'm an Egyptian princess from what to you is the distant past and yet somehow I'm a part of your daughter. I don't quite understand it myself and yet I know that it's true. I can feel it in my heart. I am she and she is me," Claranamon said in a thick accent that completely shocked Dave since she sounded nothing like Clara at all despite her appearance.

"I feel like I'm in the middle of some really, really crazy dream right now," Dave said in disbelief.

"Just wait. It's about to get even crazier," Rose said with a small grin as the Doctor's TARDIS started to materialize in the middle of the dressing room.

"It's him," Abby said as she held her breath in anticipation.

As soon as the doors opened, the Doctor rushed out and ignored everyone else as he grabbed Clara and hugged her tightly. Then he swung her around the room with joy as he said, "Isn't this wonderful? Oswin's finally getting married."

Dave cleared his throat loudly and the Doctor finally noticed him as he said, "Oh! Hello, Dave! It's so great to see you again!"

Then he launched himself at Dave and hugged him tightly now too making him immediately uncomfortable. Dave somehow managed to yank himself away from the overaffectionate Time Lord and glared at him while the Doctor continued to grin away at him completely oblivious to his effect on him.

"You're the one who was always showing up at Clara's house. The one who I thought was her boyfriend because you were always so affectionate with her. Now I find out that you're married, and your wife is trapped inside of my daughter. I don't even want to think about what that might mean," Dave said.

Both the Doctor and Clara immediately turned red with embarrassment as Rose said through Clara, "The Doctor and I haven't done anything but hug or have the occasional kiss on the cheek since I became stuck this way. As for before that, the Doctor and I both love your daughter dearly and think of her as a member of our family. That's why he was so affectionate with her. He's always that way with everyone but even more so with people that he cares about. Nothing ever happened between them."

Dave nodded as he said, "And what about the Doctor and my mother?"

"We were just friends. He wasn't this good looking back then though or it might have been a different story," Abby said with a wicked grin.

The Doctor looked at Abby in surprise as he said, "What are you talking about when you say 'back then'?"

"You really don't remember me, do you?" Abby asked looking disappointed.

"Of course I do. You're Clara's gran," the Doctor said still looking confused.

"No, Doctor. I'm much more than that to you. I know I look very different from the way that I used to but look at me. Really look," Abby said.

The Doctor looked at her very closely for a moment as he carefully studied her features and then his face suddenly broke out into a huge smile. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly as he said, "Abby! My Abby!"

"Hey, don't squeeze her so tight! If you break her, you'll have to answer to me, Chin Boy!" Clara warned.

"He'll also have to answer to me and my Daleks," Oswin warned.

"JUST SAY THE WORD, EMPRESS. I EAGERLY AWAIT THE COMMAND TO EXTERMINATE HIM," Epsilon said.

The Doctor immediately let go of Abby and said in a nervous voice, "She's fine, see? Tell them you're fine, Abby."

"I may have a little bit of pain in my back," Abby said with an evil smile.

"Abby, don't joke around like that while the nasty Dalek's pointing its gun at me. You wouldn't want there to be a misunderstanding would you?" the Doctor said looking warily at Epsilon.

"Sorry, Doctor. I just couldn't resist. It's so good to see you again," Abby said as she gave him a hug back and refused to let go.

"I can't believe it's really you. My Abby," the Doctor said as he continued to smile at her.

"Why didn't you ever show me this much affection when you were the angry old man? I mean I knew that you cared about me when you almost ripped that Dalek task force apart after they shot me, but you never did really show me," Abby said.

"That was just who Mr. Tetchy was. He never showed his true feelings to anyone except for Susan. You never met Susan did you? She was before your time wasn't she? I'll have to let you meet her. Of course you've already met Rose. Rose is the one who I told you about once. You remember right?" the Doctor said as he babbled away.

"You're Arkytior?" Abby asked Rose.

"That's me," Rose said waving at her.

Abby started to cry as she said, "I'm so happy for you, Doctor. I know how much you missed her. I didn't realize that she was your original wife. He once told me about you, Rose, after he started screaming your name at the top of his lungs during a terrible fever that he developed once when he was badly wounded after we were attacked by some Mongol warriors. He was having several hallucinations about you that night while I was nursing him back to health."

The Doctor looked away uncomfortably as Rose said, "Thank you for being there for him, Abby. You don't know how much that means to me that someone was taking care of him like that."

Oswin looked at Abby in complete surprise as she said, "I never knew that all of that was going on in your past. There's still so much that you haven't told me. I guess I'm not the only one who's had a thrilling adventure or two."

"Oh, you have no idea, Clara. I once helped save the universe from the Animus. Now that was hard. Not as hard as having to put up with that annoying Monk though. I really hated that nasty little fellow," Abby said.

"You should see him now. You'd really hate him these days," the Doctor said with a frown.

"It's like I don't even know my own mother," Dave said in bewilderment while Abby laughed.

"I APOLOGIZE FOR THE DALEK ATTACK ON YOU," Epsilon said to Abby.

"Why? It wasn't you that did it. Don't worry about it. I don't hold grudges," Abby said with a warm smile.

That was when Cydonia came into the room and said, "Oswin, aren't you ready yet? The wedding's already been delayed twice while we've been waiting on you."

Dave stared at Cydonia in disbelief as she said, "Oh. Hello, Mr. Oswald. I'm so glad that Oswin finally told you. I know that she really wanted you here at the wedding."

"You're not another Clara then? You're just another one who only looks like her?" Dave asked.

"That's right. My name's Cydonia but I've known your daughter for a long time now. Both Clara and Oswin are just like sisters to me," Cydonia said.

Then Dave looked at Oswin in shock as he said, "Wait a minute. You're getting married?"

"Yes, Dave, why do you think that everyone kept mentioning it about a hundred times?" Abby said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"I wanted you to give me away," Oswin said hopefully.

"I only just got you though, and I don't even know this man. How do I know that he's right for you?" Dave said smiling at her.

"Trust me, Dad. He is," Oswin said.

"How could I refuse then? Why don't we all go on out and give you time to get dressed? I'll need something to wear myself since I didn't know that I would be here," Dave said.

"No need for that. I can fix both problems at once," Rose said as she snapped her fingers.

Suddenly Oswin was in a beautiful white dress and Dave was in a tuxedo. Rose grinned as Oswin's father continued to look so, so lost at all of the strange things happening around him.

Soon the wedding was underway at last, and Oswin was happy to see that there was a huge turnout. There were at least a hundred different Claras on the bride's side of the aisle. She guessed that Clara must have called in some favors with her echoes or maybe she was more popular among them than she thought.

She could also see her two Maid of Honors waiting there beside one another as well. She had made both Clara and Marissa her Maid of Honor after not being able to choose between them. Cydonia, Claranamon, Lissa, Molly, Peri, Ace, and Shehzadi were also all there as bridesmaids. Koschei was the ring bearer since she couldn't find any other spot for him, and she had promised Marissa that she would sneak him into the wedding somehow. Needless to say Janine was the flower girl. Who else could it have been since she loved the little girl like she was her own child?

On John's side were his parents, Jack Harkness and Oswin's old friend Penny Harkness from back in the days when she used to travel with Rose. Oswin could also see a few Torchwood operatives there that she recognized such as Gwen Cooper.

Oswin smiled as she saw John coming towards her with her father talking his ear off. If she knew her dad, he was quickly chatting him up in order to get a good idea about what kind of man that he was. She laughed as her dad gave her two thumbs up before taking her arm and getting ready to walk her down the aisle.

As Oswin looked to the center of the room expectantly and waited for the ceremony to officially begin, she whispered to John," Who's going to marry us? You never did say. Come to think of it I still don't know who your Best Man is. You were being very mysterious about it."

"That's because I wanted it to be as much of a surprise to you as it was to me," John said grinning.

"What are you up to?" Oswin said suspiciously.

"You'll see. Trust me. You'll love it. I'm not so sure what kind of speech that he's going to make though," John said laughing.

That was when Epsilon glided up to them in a very large tuxedo. Oswin's eyes bulged out of their sockets, and her mouth dropped open as John started laughing even louder.

"DON'T WORRY, JOHN. I HAVE MY SPEECH READY. I PROMISE THAT I WILL NOT TALK ABOUT EXTERMINATIONS IN IT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE MANY GOOD JOKES ABOUT THAT REGARDING THE DOCTOR," Epsilon said.

Oswin smiled at John and was at a complete loss for words because she was so touched by this gesture from him.

"You are . . . you're . . . you're the sweetest man I've ever met. Thank you, John," Oswin said as she gave him a passionate kiss.

"You're supposed to wait until after the wedding to do that," Dave said teasing her.

"He deserves an early one for this, Dad," Oswin said happily.

Finally the wedding officially began as K'anpo Rimpoche appeared in the center of the room in ceremonial robes. Oswin didn't really know him that well, but she knew that he was an old friend of Marissa's so she honestly couldn't say that she was too surprised to see the old Time Lord holy man here.

The ceremony seemed to fly past her as Oswin eagerly waited for the key moment where she exchanged wedding vows and rings with John. When K'anpo finally pronounced them husband and wife, she gladly reprised her kiss from earlier and gave it just a bit more oomph. She could hear many happy cheers behind her as the two of them continued to kiss without stopping for several minutes.

"I can't believe it. We finally did it. I should have done it ages ago instead of putting it off for so long. I've known for a long time now that I wanted this, John. I should have made more time for it to happen a lot sooner," Oswin apologized afterwards as they sat there eating wedding cake together.

"Well as long as you promise not to get too caught up in things again and never to start acting like a Dalek again, I'll let it slide. This time," John said kidding her.

"I mean it, John. I'm never going to do that kind of thing again where I get so caught up in being the Empress or a Guardian that I forget about us. I want you to stop me and call me out on if I ever even think about it," Oswin said in a serious voice.

"I will. Believe me, Mrs. Harkness," John said as he gave her a tender kiss.

"You mean Mrs. Oswald don't you? Maybe Oswald-Harkness? I haven't decided yet what your new last name will be," Oswin said teasing him.

"What's wrong with Harkness?" John said pretending to be annoyed.

"What's wrong with Oswald? My name's just as good as yours," Oswin said still not letting up on the teasing.

Then their banter was brought to an end as Epsilon started his speech. Oswin quickly crossed her fingers as she hoped that he didn't wind up terrifying half the people there by accident with an ill-fated attempt at Dalek humor.

"I JUST WISH TO SAY THAT I AM VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE AS A PART OF MY EMPRESS . . . NO, MY FRIEND'S WEDDING. I KNOW THAT IT MAY BE HARD FOR MANY OF YOU TO BELIEVE THAT A DALEK COULD CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT I DO. I LOVE OSWIN MORE THAN I CAN SAY, AND I WISH ONLY THE BEST FOR HER. ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I LOVE HER SO MUCH IS THAT SHE TAUGHT ME HOW TO LOVE. NOT ONLY ME BUT ALL OF THE OTHERS OF MY KIND AS WELL. FOR THIS AND FOR SO MANY OTHER REASONS, I WANTED HER TO MARRY ONLY THE BEST PERSON BECAUSE THAT WAS WHAT SHE DESERVED. AT FIRST I DIDN'T THINK THAT JOHN HARKNESS WAS THAT PERSON, BUT NOW I CAN HAPPILY SAY THAT I WAS WRONG. OSWIN DESERVES ONLY THE BEST, AND THAT'S WHAT HE IS. I KNOW THAT NOW," Epsilon said.

"Thank you, Eppy. That was beautiful. I officially forgive you now for bringing my dad here without telling me," Oswin said.

"I want to thank you too, Epsilon. I never knew that you felt that way about me," John said smiling smugly.

"I DO. I MUST ADD THOUGH THAT IF YOU EVER HURT HER, JOHN HARKNESS, I WILL GLADLY HUNT YOU DOWN AND EXTERMINATE YOU WITHOUT MERCY," Epsilon said.

"What?! Now listen here you overgrown trash can . . .!" Penny shouted as she instantly rose to her feet in anger.

Oswin immediately stood up and looked at the now furious Penny with a nervous smile as she said, "He was just kidding of course, folks. He's got a great sense of humor, that Eppy."

"I WAS NOT KIDDING," Epsilon said.

"Yes, you were," Oswin said through gritted teeth while she kept a smile plastered all over her face.

"I WAS NOT," Epsilon insisted.

"Shut up," Oswin hissed in a low voice as she continued to smile.

"Shouldn't I be threatening the boy like that?" Dave joked to Abby.

"It's much more convincing coming from a Dalek. Believe me," Abby said grinning.

"Mum, he was kidding. He loves me. Everyone does. Stop worrying so much," John said to the still glowering Penny.

Oswin quickly had a whispered but heated discussion with Epsilon who then said, "I WAS KIDDING OF COURSE. I LOVE THE EMPRESS' HUSBAND. HE IS JUST LIKE A LOYAL PET TO ME."

"What?" Penny said again.

"That was a mistranslation of course," Oswin quickly added.

"Sure it was," John said with an amused grin on his face.

He wasn't really bothered by anything that the Dalek had said in the slightest. He had expected nothing less of him after all. He knew though that despite what he had just said that he would never bother him as long as Oswin was happy, and he would make sure of that for the rest of his life. Therefore he would never give Epsilon any cause to exterminate him if he could help it.

Eventually the wedding ended on a much happier note as the new couple began to dance and everyone else joined in. The Doctor of course just had to do his giraffe dance, and Rose couldn't help but laugh at him in amusement while he did so.

Finally the wedding was over with, and Oswin and John were now ready to go off on their honeymoon at last. At least they would have been if Epsilon hadn't received a frantic call from Skaro all of a sudden.

"EMPRESS, SKARO IS UNDER ATTACK!" Epsilon suddenly shouted out as the two of them prepared to leave Gallifrey.

"What? By who?" Oswin asked in disbelief.

"THE THALS. THEY HAVE RETURNED AND THIS TIME THEY HAVE A NEW WEAPON WITH THEM," Epsilon said in a worried tone.

"Tell me more," Oswin demanded.

Oswin's eyes widened at his answer and she said to John with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry but . . ."

"I know, Clara. It's okay. We'll go on the honeymoon after you and I bust a few Thal skulls. We'll just consider this an extra special wedding present," John said with a grin.

"You know what they say, John. The couple that fights together stays together," Oswin joked.

"I suppose it's better than fighting each other, huh?" John said.

"Don't think that you're leaving me behind. You'll need me," Cydonia said.

"I'm going too," Abby said.

"No, you're not!" Oswin, Clara, and Dave all said at once.

"Alright, alright! You can't blame me for wanting to have a little fun. Please I'd be spending some quality family time with my new Clara," Abby said.

Dave shook his head while the Doctor said, "Now you see what I had to put up with."

"Shut up, Chinny," Abby said making the Doctor pout while the two Claras laughed.

Oswin, John, and Cydonia immediately teleported to Skaro to find themselves right in the middle of a full scale invasion there. All of the Dalek cities were rapidly being overwhelmed by a massive assault from the Thals and yet not one of them was standing against them.

"It's worse than I thought," Oswin said in shock.

"What is? What's happening?" Cydonia asked not having heard what Epsilon told Oswin.

"RUN! WE MUST FLEE OR THEY WILL EXTERMINATE US!" Several Daleks suddenly shouted as they came flying past them in an all-out panic.

"The Thals have created a new weapon that makes the Daleks become paralyzed with fear," Oswin said as she watched several more Daleks retreat from the area in mindless fear.

"IT APPEARS THAT BY INTRODUCING AN EMOTION OTHER THAN HATE TO THE DALEKS THAT THE EMPRESS HAS ALSO INTRODUCED FEAR TO THEM. NOW OUR ENEMIES ARE USING THIS WEAKNESS AGAINST US. EVEN NOW I'M HAVING TO FIGHT THE URGE TO RUN," Epsilon said.

"The Thals have turned the Daleks into a bunch of scared little kids. If this keeps up, the Daleks are going to be completely wiped out," John noted with concern.

"Not on my watch, John. I'm going to find out what the Thals are doing to the Daleks to cause this and I'm going to stop it. No one's hurting my Daleks! Not on my watch!" Oswin said.

Then she proceeded to start taking down several Thals soldiers at once singlehandedly while the remaining Daleks watched her in awe. They now momentarily stopped their mindless flight as they stayed and watched her in action.

Oswin smiled at the effect that her actions were causing among them as she said, "Hello, boys! Mum's home!"

She could only hope that this would be enough to turn the tide in her favor or this could be the Daleks' last stand.

Next: Oswin continues to lead the resistance to the Thals as she does her best to rally the Daleks around her and tries to get them to defend themselves. What are the Thals doing to the Daleks anyway and can Oswin find a way to counteract it before it's too late? Will she succeed or will Skaro fall?